EPISODE VIII
Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed Star Wars Episode VII has begun filming, and production on Episode IX has also begun. During the Walt Disney’ Company’s quarterly earnings call, he stated:
“There is no better way to propel this franchise into the future than producing quality products. Filming of Star Wars: Episode VIII, the next chapter of the legendary saga, has just commenced and it will be in theaters December 2017. And production of Episode IX, a 2019 release, has also begun.”
To take advantage of the location used in the last scene of The Force Awakens, some scenes from Episode VIII were actually already filmed while filming Force.
ROGUE ONE/HAN SOLO
Igor also had this to say about Star Wars: Rogue One:
“Filming of Rogue One is virtually completed and we absolutely love what we’ve seen so far. This is the first of a set of planned stand-alone stories and we’re already in preproduction on our next one, for release in May of 2018.
“The next one” he is referring to is the young Han Solo movie, and as we earlier reported, they’ve whittled down the actors in the running to play Han. Rogue One is a heist story about Rebel plans to steal the blueprints for the original Death Star. The film, directed by Godzilla’s Gareth Edwards, will be released Dec. 16.